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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25984996">7. To Be So Lonely</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenes/pseuds/brokenes'>brokenes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf Challenge (Fine Line Album - Harry Styles) [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angry Derek Hale, Bachelor Party Stupidity, Derek Hale Loves Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale Uses His Words, Drunk Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt Stiles Stilinski, Jackson &amp; Ethan Wedding, Light Angst, M/M, Matchmaker Cora Hale, Minor Ethan/Jackson Whittemore, Non-Graphic Smut, Protective Derek, Scott McCall &amp; Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Slow Build Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Song: To Be So Lonely (Harry Styles), Songfic, Stiles Stilinski Being an Idiot, Stiles Stilinski Saves The Day, Temporary Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:55:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,512</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25984996</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenes/pseuds/brokenes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone gets drunk for Jackson and Ethan's bachelor party and the humans are left to deal with the consequences. One human - Stiles - gets hurt and one werewolf - Derek - is pissed about it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Derek Hale &amp; Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf Challenge (Fine Line Album - Harry Styles) [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1826380</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>290</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>7. To Be So Lonely</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The gifs used aren't my own so credit to their owners!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They were at Jackson’s bachelor party. Everyone had had too much to drink, except for Stiles and Lydia, having to be the ones responsible for driving everyone home safely. They just couldn’t trust anyone else to do it. The strippers had just left, Ethan and Danny were throwing up in the bathroom, into the same toilet. Isaac was dancing with Liam and Mason. Kira was with Malia, having some sort of drinking competition. Stiles was looking everywhere for Scott, who’d dipped during the penguin dance that lasted for at least 15 minutes. They’d rented out a villa with a garden and a pool, so he could literally be anywhere.</p><p>Stiles started with the bedrooms, then moved to the kitchen. When Scott was still nowhere to be found, Stiles had to get creative. He looked in all the cupboards, anywhere big enough to contain a mature man’s body. He looked in the laundry room, the basement, all the bathrooms, before going out to search by the Jacuzzi. Scott was talking on the phone, fully dressed, and drenched in water. Stiles groaned, rolled his eyes as he approached his <strong><em>very</em></strong> drunk best friend.</p><p>“ Scott, buddy, what the hell are you doing?” Stiles took the phone away from Scott, looked at the name and it was Derek. He contemplated throwing the phone into the water, no one would call him out for it. He could just blame Scott’s drunken clumsiness for it. Instead, he chose to be a grownass, emotionally intelligent man, bringing the phone to his ear.</p><p>“ Derek.” Stiles said. Monotone. Unbothered.</p><p>“ Stiles? Is everybody there this drunk?”</p><p>“ Pretty much. It’s absolute chaos. They are such babies, all of them.” Stiles put the phone between his shoulder and his ear, shuffling Scott to get him out of the water. His clothes basically dumped most of the water in them onto Stiles’ new shoes, and he was just over the whole night.</p><p>“ Told you, you’d need more help keeping this party under control. There are more supernatural beings than humans, how did you expect to be able to keep them in line?”</p><p>“ Still being a dick about this, I see. Why did you call again?”</p><p>“ I didn’t. Scott called me. He was telling me about how miserable you are without me there.”</p><p>“ That is <strong><em>not</em></strong> true. I am not miserable. I am having the time of my life.” Stiles pushed Scott into one of the chaise lounges by the pool, wanting to reverse the damage done.</p><p>“ Sure you are. You sound like it too. Why do you have to be so stubborn about <strong><em>everything</em></strong>?”</p><p>“ Why do <strong><em>you</em></strong> have to be right about everything? You’re such a know-it-all, it’s fucking annoying.”  </p><p>“ I don’t have to be right. I just am. You should have listened to me about this.”</p><p>“ No, I shouldn’t have. It’s a bachelor party, Jackson and Ethan are getting married in 2 days, and what, you expected me to tell them to postpone it until you could be here for it too? People’s lives don’t revolve around yours, Derek, and – Oh shit, oh fuck, Scott!” Stiles threw his phone away, jumped into the pool to get to Scott. Scott had put the breaks of the chaise lounge down, slid his feet against the ground, until he fell into the pool, the chaise lounge tipping and falling on top of him. Scott knew how to swim, but the alcohol seemed to have wiped all rationality away, leaving him thrashing around until Stiles grabbed him by the shirt, and started swimming up. One of the chaise lounge’s legs hit Stiles on the head, and right as he managed to push Scott out of the pool, he felt the blood sliding down his face. Everything started feeling fuzzy and distant, and he fell back into the water, losing consciousness. When he came to, he was coughing out pool water, some of it coming out through his nose. He was convinced he’d hit rock bottom, right then and there. But then, he saw his dad and a few other officers standing next to the paramedics and he realized that this night had gone to absolute <strong><em>shit</em></strong>.</p><p>“ What happened?” Stiles groaned, the lights around the house giving him one hell of a headache.</p><p>“ A lot. We gotta take you to the hospital to check you over.”</p><p>“ But dad – “</p><p>“ It’s protocol. Don’t even <em>but dad</em> me after what you’ve done.”</p><p>“ What did <strong><em>I</em></strong> do?” The sheriff rolled his eyes, told everyone to go home on his way out. Scott fell to his knees next to Stiles, took his hand as if trying to leech any leftover aches.</p><p>“ You called the <strong><em>police</em></strong>?” Stiles pulled his hand away from Scott, squinted one eye opened, and regretted it soon after. He was definitely concussed.</p><p>“ You weren’t breathing! What was I supposed to do?” Stiles sighed, patted Scott’s hand that was closest to him, as the paramedics carried him onto the gurney.</p><p>“ Is everybody else okay?”</p><p>“ For the most part. Apparently, Danny is dehydrated from throwing up so much, and Ethan fell through a window, but he’s healing already.”</p><p>“ This is the worst fucking party I’ve ever been a part of, and we were poisoned with wolfsbane that made us hallucinate our worst fears before.” The paramedics stood, and Stiles’ world tilted a little too aggressively, but he wasn’t about to throw up all over that damn ambulance, so he closed his eyes and hoped for the best.</p><p>Melissa was waiting for them when they got to the hospital. She laid a hand across Stiles’ forehead, smiled at him like everything would be okay, before he was wheeled into a room. Scott and the sheriff sat in the waiting room. Scott was still dripping wet, but he was a lot more sober now than he was when he went into the water. He didn’t think he’d ever drink again, after everything. It didn’t even register that Stiles was drowning. He couldn’t get himself to <strong><em>move</em></strong>. But he called out for Stiles at the top of his lungs until Malia came running, throwing herself into the water as soon as she saw the red waves invading the pool’s blue. When she broke surface with him under her arm, his head had stopped bleeding but his lips were bluing, his heart not beating and his breaths not coming. Malia dialed 911, after telling Scott to start on compressions. Stiles only started coughing out the water he’d inhaled right when the sheriff and the paramedics rushed in.  </p><p>“ Where is he?” Scott lifted his head at the sound of Derek’s voice. He looked as tightly coiled as he sounded.</p><p>“ Oh Stiles is going to kill me.” Scott said under his breath, standing to tame Derek before he went ballistic on everyone there.</p><p>“ He’s with the doctors. They haven’t said anything yet, but he was alert and everything when we got here.” Scott put both hands on Derek’s shoulders, halting his panic before it got any worse.</p><p>“ What the hell happened? One minute, he was on the phone with me, and then the next, his phone keeps going straight to voicemail, and Lydia calls to tell me he was taken in an <strong><em>ambulance</em></strong>?” Scott inhaled, prepared himself for the outburst that would follow, as he told Derek what had happened. Derek’s eyebrows fell so closely together, it looked like some of those wrinkles would never smooth away. Scott figured that if they weren’t in a public place with Stiles’ dad watching closely, he probably would have clawed him opened. But then Melissa came with the news that Stiles had a concussion and would need to spend the night at the hospital to remain under observation, and when Derek exhaled, it looked like a cloud of smoke came with it.</p><p>“ Can we see him, mom?” Scott asked, shrinking on himself a little.</p><p>“ Yes, of course. One person at a time though, starting with John.” Derek took a step back, leaned against the wall closest to Stiles’ room, with his arms crossed against his chest, completely ignoring Scott.</p><p>“ I didn’t mean for this to happen, you know. I was just.. drunk and I made a stupid mistake.”</p><p>“ You’re a werewolf, Scott. An alpha. Stupid mistakes for you are just that – mistakes. But for Stiles, they could do some serious damage. This time, it was just a concussion. The next, who knows. He wasn’t <strong><em>breathing</em></strong>, Scott, do you – fuck, this could have gone so much worse.”</p><p>“ Don’t you think I know that? If you’re this riled up over it and you weren’t even there, think of what it did to us. To me, and – Malia. I did CPR on him for minutes. I couldn’t find his heartbeat and his chest wasn’t moving and – it was bad. I know it was bad because I was <strong><em>there</em></strong>. You weren’t.”</p><p>“ Are you saying this is <strong><em>my</em></strong> fault?” Derek sounded more wolf than human, as he pushed his chest against Scott’s.</p><p>“ No, that’s not what I’m fucking saying.” Scott pushed back, too frustrated now to be defeated. “ What I’m trying to say is that you can’t make me feel any worse about this than I already do. I know that things could have gone horribly wrong and – I’m never going to let myself get this drunk again. Especially around Stiles.” Derek huffed, nodded minutely, like he didn’t want to give Scott the satisfaction that he didn’t actually blame him for what happened. When the sheriff came out of Stiles’ room, looking lighter than he was when he went in, Scott rushed to Stiles’ room before Derek could stop him. Derek suspected it was probably to warn Stiles about what was waiting for him.</p><p>When Scott’s scent started intensifying like it was getting closer, Derek walked towards Stiles’ room, unable to hold himself back any longer. Scott dodged him when they crossed paths, but Derek barely noticed at all, pushing his way into Stiles’ room, feeling an array of emotions but mostly rage. Probably worry too, but he’d lean more onto his rage, because that was Derek, and he <strong><em>knew</em></strong> rage. He didn’t want to delve any more into that worry. So, he stood there, even when everything inside him ached for a touch, for a hold. He tapped his feet impatiently, palms clenching and releasing.</p><p>
  
</p><p>“ Uh, hi.” Stiles lifted a hand, waved awkwardly.</p><p>“ Well?”</p><p>“ Well, what?”</p><p>“ Say it.”</p><p>“ Say what?”</p><p>“ Say that I was right. That you should have postponed that stupid fucking party until Cora and I could help out.” Stiles’ eye-roll was instantaneous, so exaggerated, it was almost painful.</p><p>“ We’ve been over this already. It wasn’t just my call and – “</p><p>“ And you could have died. In fact, from what they’re telling me, you stopped breathing, for <strong><em>several</em></strong> minutes.”</p><p>“ It’s not like anyone could have seen this coming.”</p><p>“ I have!” Derek threw his arms away like he was tired of having to pin them beside him so that they wouldn’t latch on. He looked the least together that Stiles had ever seen him.</p><p>“ What, you predicted Scott getting pass-out-drunk and then taking his chaise lounge with him into the pool and forgetting how to swim so that I would have to go in and get him out? You knew <strong><em>that</em></strong> was going to happen? Because I knew werewolves had powers and all but I didn’t know being psychic was one of them.”</p><p>“ Stiles, you do <strong><em>not</em></strong> want to get smart with me right now. Stop fucking pushing me.”</p><p>“ I’m not pushing, Derek, I’m not doing anything. You’re the one who came in here wanting to gloat.”</p><p>“ Gloat? Is that what you think this is?” Derek gritted out, his teeth sounding like they could break under all the pressure he was biting down on them with. He didn’t know how he wasn’t feral by now because he sure felt like he was about to be. He had the right to be. Stiles shrugged, like he couldn’t think of any other explanation. Derek nodded once, hurt enveloping him like a coat, saturating him from the inside out, pushing anything and everything else to the side.</p><p>“ I’ll get going.” Derek pointed towards the door, took a step towards it.</p><p>“ What? No, Derek,” Stiles sighed out his name like he was tired, tired of having to stop him from leaving, of having to ask him to stay, of having to keep himself from saying too much.</p><p>“ I’ll see you at the wedding.” With that, Derek closed the door behind him, another sigh from Stiles followed him down the hallway, until he was walking past the sheriff and Scott, and leaving the hospital all together.</p><p>Derek drove back to the pack two towns over that he was supposed to help settle in, since their alpha was barely 18, and overwhelmed by his new set of powers. He’d left Cora there, running out as soon as he got the call from Lydia. He didn’t even know why the mention of Stiles’ name always sent him spiraling, running like he was being chased after, or like he had somewhere to get to. That was a lie – he knew. He’d known he had a thing for Stiles since he threw him out of Peter’s way and almost died trying to save him. He’d known since Stiles held him up in the pool for hours, despite stinking of fear and pain. He knew, he just didn’t know what to do about it. He’d never told anyone he cared for them, had never asked anyone out, except for Jennifer maybe and that was an experience he wouldn’t want to revisit. Even Kate, she was the one who did all the chasing, took all the steps. But Derek wasn’t Kate, he didn’t know how to approach without pushing, he didn’t know how to find the words for what he felt, or the voice to say them if they were ever found. He didn’t have the self-confidence that it would take to not fear rejection or humiliation. He didn’t have much to offer at all. And yes, he knew he was in love with Stiles, and he was lonely almost all the time without him, but he also knew that Stiles deserved so much better than anything he’d ever have to offer. Hell, even now, as he sped through his drive back to Beacon Hills just to check on Stiles, be there for him if needed, Stiles took it as an attempt to please Derek’s ego, to prove a point. Derek definitely had an ego, but that wasn’t what it was at all. It hadn’t been about ego with Stiles in – years. He just didn’t know. And Derek, once again, was unable to tell him different. He just had to be friends with Stiles and not ache for anything else – anything more. He had to give the whole friendship concept a real <strong><em>try</em></strong>.</p><p>When Derek got back to the pack, Cora had a smug look on her face. He rolled his eyes at her, a <em>not now Cora</em> groaned out before she could even say anything. He went back to work with the alpha and his pack, Cora making herself useful by giving instructions to the betas, on how to respect his new position without totally losing their own personalities and needs. Control wasn’t coming as easily to the alpha as it did with Derek, but that was because he was too freaked out to let it. He didn’t necessarily go after the power, his parents both died in a car accident, and he was the oldest of his siblings, so the power went straight to him. He was trying to grieve the loss of his parents while simultaneously getting the hang of this whole alpha thing and also being a present older brother to his siblings. It was a lot. Derek knew, saw it in the distress printed on the alpha’s features every time his siblings weren’t looking, heard it in the skip of his heartbeat every time he felt he was too close to the edge, but worst of all, he smelled it. The stench of misery and sadness was almost suffocating.</p><p>Derek and Cora spent two days with the pack, every waking minute dedicated to easing the alpha into his new status, and guiding everyone through the grief, to the best of their ability. But Derek and Cora weren’t experts on grief. They knew it, but they didn’t know how to cope with it. At least, not in a healthy manner. Still, on the morning of the wedding day, Derek and Cora bid everyone goodbye, telling them that they had allies in the Hale and McCall pack in Beacon Hills, and that they could reach out for any further help. And then, they were on their way to the venue where Ethan’s and Jackson’s wedding was supposed to be. They had to stop in a gas station because Cora needed a mirror and Derek needed to freshen up before putting on his suit. They got dressed in the car, taking turns driving while the other got ready. They got there right at the end of the vows, so they stood by the door, waited until they were announced husband and husband, before following the crowd to where the reception would be.</p><p>Jackson and Ethan were having their first dance when Derek felt Stiles’ approaching presence, before he was standing beside him, with a loosened tie and a small bandage where he’d hit his head, and Derek gave it his damnest to keep looking away from him.</p><p>
  
</p><p>“ You were late.”</p><p>“ Yeah, the thing with the pack took longer than we thought.”</p><p>“ Did you get it sorted then?”</p><p>“ We did what we could.”</p><p>“ Are you still pissy about the whole bachelor party thing?” Stiles groaned, moved to stand in front of Derek, who seemed to have less and less places to look at instead of Stiles.</p><p>“ I’m not pissy about anything.” Derek shrugged.</p><p>“ Okay, come on, we need to find somewhere else to talk because we can’t wreck this wedding, after all the bullshit we went through to get here.” Stiles thoughtlessly slid his fingers between Derek’s, took his hand and exited the reception area. Derek tried not to dwell on the weight of his hand against his, tried to prepare himself for the release. Eventually, it came, when Stiles stood in the empty stairwell, with enough distance away from the reception area that they wouldn’t disturb anything, wouldn’t take the attention away from the grooms.</p><p>“ <strong><em>Why</em></strong> are you making such a big deal out of this?” Stiles hit his hands against his legs helplessly.</p><p>“ A big deal out of you almost dying? Are you kidding me?” Derek huffed, wishing he’d just skipped the wedding all together. Never came back to Beacon Hills.</p><p>“ It wasn’t that serious! Yes, I almost drowned, but it was a very minor thing that led to it. We are in our 20s, Derek, we get to drink and make stupid fucking mistakes. There is nothing unforgivable about that.”</p><p>“ A mistake is misevaluating your limits and drinking yourself sick. A mistake, is taking drugs and then stripping in front of everyone. Those are mistakes. Getting drunk enough to endanger someone’s life, to cause them to drown, get a concussion,<strong><em> and</em></strong> stop breathing, isn’t a fucking mistake. You don’t come back from that. You don’t make it better. If it’s done, then it’s just that. <strong><em>Done</em></strong>. For good.”</p><p>“ But I did come back! I’m standing right in front of you, actual living proof that you can come back from something like that. Now, what is this really about? Because I don’t buy for a second that it’s about us having the bachelor party without you.”</p><p>“ Of course it’s not about that! Fuck that party, fuck this wedding, fuck it all.” Derek was cracking, so suddenly wide open, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold anything in, hide any more of himself away from Stiles. It was well past being on the tip of his tongue.</p><p>“ So what is it? What are we fighting about here, Derek? Because I am confused as hell.”</p><p>“ It’s about <strong><em>you</em></strong>, you fucking – oblivious, arrogant, son of a bitch.” Derek started pacing, not wanting to just stand there, as everything crumbled around him.</p><p>“ What about me?” Stiles had the audacity to furrow his eyebrows like he <strong><em>still</em></strong> didn’t get it. And that was it for Derek.</p><p>“ Oh my God, how are you the smartest person I know, yet, you have no fucking clue about what is right in front of you? I am in love with you, Stiles. I have been fucking in love with you, and I didn’t want you to have that party without me because I was jealous. I didn’t want you to have this much fun without me. I didn’t want to miss you, getting drunk, and – dancing, and – fuck. When Lydia called, I was terrified. It wasn’t about ego, and it damn well wasn’t about gloating – that was a low blow by the way – but as usual, the whole thing went right over your head and I was too scared to do anything about it. So. There. It’s out. Now you know. I – I am in love with you, Stiles.” Derek stopped pacing, slowly lifted his eyes until they were on Stiles, who looked like he’d seen something right out of a nightmare and – oh, no, Derek messed up, and now, there was no way to take it back. They could never be what they were again. They would never be able to co-exist and if Derek had any right to Stiles before – if only as a friend – then that was gone now too.</p><p>“ You – you are – <strong><em>what</em></strong>?” Stiles shook his head, like he had missed everything Derek said.</p><p>“ You can just forget all about it. I’m sorry I said anything. I – I shouldn’t have – “ And then, Stiles’ lips were against Derek’s, words forgotten, or dissolved into the way he tasted like those mini hotdog bites they served at the reception, but also everything Derek had ever wanted.</p><p>“ I win.” Stiles whispered, his lips curving into a smile. Derek’s lips couldn’t help but follow.</p><p>“ Huh?”</p><p>“ You said you were sorry. I win.”</p><p>“ I didn’t – “</p><p>“ Yes, you did. You said you were sorry you said anything. Which might not be related to the main topic we were fighting over, but it still counts.”</p><p>“ That’s not – “ Stiles was kissing him again, hands wrapping around his neck, fingers tugging at his hair. Derek was pretty sure he was the one who won.</p><p>“ Fine. You win.” He said anyway, just for Stiles to chuckle into his mouth, jump up for Derek to catch him, holding him against the wall, Derek’s hands at the end of his back.</p><p>“ I’m in love with you too. In case you still needed me to spell it out for you.”</p><p>“ Yeah?”</p><p>“ Oh baby. You think I just go around kissing people?”</p><p>“ Don’t call me that.” Derek groaned, tightening his grip around Stiles.</p><p>“ What? Baby?”</p><p>“ <strong><em>Yes</em></strong>.” Derek’s voice dropped, deepened, sounding more animal than human. Stiles bit down on his lip, moved his lips until they were by Derek’s ear.</p><p>“ Such a baby.” A shiver went down Derek’s spine, as Stiles breathed against his skin, all calm and comfortable.</p><p>“ We should go back in there.” Derek gulped, putting Stiles down slowly, in case he was against it.</p><p>“ Or we can get out of here.”</p><p>“ I was already late. I can’t leave yet.” Stiles’ fingers fell back between Derek’s, with meaning this time, with intent.</p><p>“ We can stay in there for 20 minutes, move around, say hi to people, show our faces, then we can head back to your place. Unless Cora – “</p><p>“ I’ll tell her to keep herself busy. Come on, let’s get this over with.”</p><p>When Derek tugged, Stiles followed. Derek never realized it could have been this easy all along. Stiles danced with Lydia, and Derek went to congratulate the grooms. Then they switched, as Derek danced with Cora, and Stiles joined a group dance with Ethan, Jackson, and Danny. When Stiles went to move towards his dad, Derek cut him off with arms circled around his waist, until they were slow dancing to some Ed Sheeran song, and Stiles had this smile on his face like he was all loved up. Derek couldn’t believe he could be the cause of something so.. fucking endearing.</p><p>They made it all of 16 minutes, before Stiles was waving at his dad, and Derek was warning Cora away from the loft. Derek drove like a madman, but Stiles' hand was on his thigh like it should have been there all along, and Derek wanted it, all over. When they got to the loft, pieces of clothing were stripped away, limbs entangling, fingers touching for the first time. Stiles was pushed into the couch, hitting his head on the armrest. He groaned, and Derek waited until the dizziness subsided, remembering that Stiles was concussed only 2 days prior. He wanted to stop, started pulling away, but Stiles shook his head, squeezed his eyes tighter when the pain intensified, but his fingers were twisted around Derek’s bicep, and Derek couldn’t will himself away.</p><p>“ Are you okay?” Derek eventually questioned.</p><p>“ Yeah. Sorry about that.”</p><p>“ You just said sorry. Does that mean <strong><em>I</em></strong> win?”</p><p>“ No, that’s not how it works. We’ve already established that I won, you can’t win after I’ve already won.”</p><p>“ Your sorry was actually related to our main topic of argument though. I would say, my win topples yours.”</p><p>“ Why don’t <strong><em>you</em></strong> topple <strong><em>me</em></strong>?” Stiles pulled Derek down, arms around his neck, hands sliding down his back.</p><p>“ I am not sure that’s the proper use of that word.”</p><p>“ Yeah, okay. Will you shut up and kiss me?”</p><p>“ Gladly.”  </p><p>And so they did. They kissed on the couch, then moved to the stairs, then they finally made it to the bedroom where they kissed some more. Cora never came to the loft that night, and when she did the next afternoon, she called Derek first. She walked in to Derek and Stiles in the kitchen, fully domesticated, like they had been doing this thing for years. It would have been annoying, if it wasn’t downright adorable. Cora showered, and then they all left to drive Ethan and Jackson to the airport for their honeymoon. Derek and Stiles looked more high on love than the grooms, and all the werewolves there let them know too. They just didn’t care.</p><p>Derek then had to drive Stiles back to his house, tried not to feel the loneliness taking over as soon as he left his car. So, he went back to the loft, worked out, showered, had lunch, then called the alpha to check in with his progress. That night, when he laid in his empty bed that still smelled like Stiles, he couldn’t help but think of all the times he could have been with Stiles rather than alone, if he’d let himself come out and ask for it.</p><p>Stiles crawled into his bed some time past midnight. Derek liked to believe that he was lonely without him too.</p>
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